A large number of fossil footprints of paleontological creatures have been found in Mipu, which researchers believe may be those of dragon turtles or dragons

Fossil footprints of paleontology discovered

Text/Photo Morning Post reporter Wu Guiqiong

Recently, the official WeChat of the Guizhou Provincial Museum announced the results of the September 2020 paleontological fossil expedition in Anshun Shupu Town: more than 200 marine reptile footprints were found, some of which provided scientists with the earliest evidence of synchronized swimming of marine tetrapods to date. After learning of this information, on November 3, the reporter went to the Honglong Village Red Flag Group in Qipu Town for a field visit.

At the destination, the reporter followed the village director Chen Enxiang and Zhishu to the site where the footprints of paleontological footprints were found, and after getting off the car, they walked more than ten minutes to the foot of a mountain called General Mountain, where the fossil footprints of paleontological creatures were found.

At the scene, the reporter saw that the place where the fossil footprints of paleontological creatures have been protected by the village, covered with a roof and pulled up a barrier. Walking in, you can see that the rocks are distributed with footprints of different shapes and sizes, some of which resemble cow's hooves, some of which resemble chicken feet, and some of which cannot distinguish shapes. In addition to the footprints, there are many obvious tracks crossing the rocks at the site.

According to Chen En' detailed account, this place was originally a dam used by villagers to beat grain, and one year when cleaning up weeds, everyone found that there were many footprints on it, and they were very curious. Later, when an expert in the province went to the General Mountain to play, he accidentally found these footprints, which attracted his attention. He originally thought that these footprints were left by the damage during the repair of the sixth high-speed railway, and finally when he knew that the construction of the high-speed rail was to hit the tunnel from below, it attracted attention. He immediately contacted Associate Professor Xing Lida of Beijing University of Geosciences to come and investigate the site. In 2018, After Associate Professor Xing Lida came to visit, he invited Professor Hendrik Klein of the German Paleontological and Amphibian Museum to visit here, and after the research of two experts and the expedition team, it was finally determined that these footprints belonged to the paleontological fossil group.

According to a paper later published by Associate Professor Xing Lida in the internationally renowned journal Sangu Magazine, the footprints of Anshun Shupu are located in the Guanling Formation of the middle Triassic, the Anisian period, about 241 million years ago - 234 million years ago (before the earliest dinosaurs, dinosaurs appeared 225 million years ago). The animals of the Guanling Formation are the key years in the Guizhou Dragon Fauna, which has very important research value.

According to the official WeChat of the Guizhou Provincial Museum, scientists have also found a new type of footprint on the rocks on the same level as the double paddle tracks. Its morphology and tracking pattern are significantly different from previous footprint records, so the researchers have classified it into a new taxonomy and named it The Rush Anshun Footprint, which means "Runner in the Water" in the name. The researchers believe that the tracers of this footprint may be dragon turtles or dragon-like dragons that have not yet found bones in the Guanling Formation.

Source: Qianzhong Morning Post

Editor: Wang Yue